Telemedicine: Bad for Antibiotic Stewardship?

Sandy Walsh is a breast cancer activist and, assuming she is like one in seven adult Americans each year, a sinusitis “survivor” too.

She served as the first-ever consumer advocate on the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) panel that recently updated the adult sinusitis clinical practice guideline.

Patient Education and Watchful Waiting

Novel, too, was the panel’s emphasis on patient education and its expansion of watchful waiting (without antibiotic therapy) as an initial management strategy. The latter now applies to all patients with uncomplicated acute bacterial rhinosinusitis (ABRS) regardless of severity. The prior guideline limited the antibiotic-free approach only to patients with “mild” illness.

Patients may not even need to see a doctor. “For the first time we’ve really made it crystal clear how to self-diagnose your own bacterial sinus infections without going to the doctor, with a high degree of accuracy,” Dr. Richard Rosenfeld told National Public Radio. He led the AAO-HNS guideline panel.

Not seeing a doctor for a sinus infection might actually have its advantages. The doctor a patient sees, not the patient’s condition, largely determines treatment, according to an Annals of Internal Medicinestudy published this month. Physician preference or “style” largely determined antibiotic use, not patient related factors like fever, age, setting, or comorbid conditions.

Telemedicine and Antibiotics

What happens when telemedicine makes physicians more accessible, convenient and less expensive to “see” for ailments like sinusitis? Antibiotic prescribing rates for acute respiratory infections were similar regardless of whether the encounter was face-to-face or via telemedicine, according to a JAMA Internal Medicinestudy published this month.

That the prescribing rates were similar represents an improvement – of sorts. A study published two years ago, also by JAMA Internal Medicine, found that telemedicine physicians were more likely to prescribe an antibiotic.

Other research shows that acute respiratory tract infections account for 75% of all outpatient antibiotic prescribing. Half those prescriptions are unnecessary because a large portion of those infections are likely viral, not bacterial.

Even more troubling, telemedicine physicians in the 2015 study were more likely to use broad-spectrum antibiotics, raising concerns because “overuse increases costs and contributes to antibiotic resistance.” The study suggests telemedicine physicians may have been prescribing more conservatively due to limited diagnostic information.

Do It Yourself for Patients

Sandy Walsh, the consumer advocate, is ready with patient education — specifically “do-it-yourself” diagnostic tools for sinusitis sufferers. She and her co-authors have written a plain language, adult sinusitis summary, including patient information sheets, based on the new AAO-HNS clinical practice guideline. The summary, already available online, will appear in the August issue of Otolaryngoly – Head Neck Surgery.

According to Dr. Rosenfeld, the key to this “do it yourself” approach is learning how to tell whether the infection is viral or bacterial. As he told NPR, if you have been sick less than 10 days and you are not getting worse, it is most likely viral and an antibiotic would have no effect.

If you do not improve or get worse in 10 days, it is probably bacterial. Still, Dr. Rosenfeld advises that, even then, an antibiotic would play little role in what is largely a battle between your body and the infection. “There’s a good chance you’re going to get better on your own,” says Dr. Rosenfeld.

Integrate Telemedicine and Education

Telemedicine providers would do well to follow Dr. Rosenfeld’s example. Fully integrate patient education as first line therapy for sinusitis, help patients learn how to diagnose and care for themselves, and reserve antibiotics for true need. Make telemedicine good for antibiotic stewardship.